Top prospect Nick Ball returns to the ring for the first time this year
Undefeated featherweight prospect Nick Ball (13-0, 6KOs) will return to the ring for the first time in almost 15 months as he competes in an eight-round contest on the undercard of Brad Foster vs Jason Cunningham on October 9 in Birmingham, live on BT Sport.
The 24-year-old from Liverpool will face Polish title contender Piotr Gudel (10-6-1, 1KO) over eight three-minute rounds at super-featherweight.
Gudel, 31-years-old, last fought in August and went the distance with undefeated Radomir Obrusniak (4-0, 1KO) for the Republic of Poland super-featherweight title, losing out by just two rounds on one judge’s scorecard.
“He will be a tough test, to be honest,” admitted Ball. “I haven’t really had a look at him but he’s coming to have a go. It’ll be perfect for me because a lot of fighters cover up and hide, so hopefully he comes to fight and opens up. It won’t last long though; that’s the plan to catch them clean then they know you’ve got power and they’ll cover up and go on the backfoot.”
Part of the Everton Red Triangle gym in Liverpool, three-time national amateur champion Ball has the best in-house sparring available with unbeaten teammates Andrew Cain, Brad Strand and Jack McKinlay, as well as Tokyo 2020 Olympian Peter McGrail, who has just turned over.
However, he has recently been out on the road with trainer Paul Stevenson to get even more sparring experience, he explained, “Been down to Sheffield to spar Kid Galahad twice now; went Tuesday last week and then was invited back two days later on the Thursday. Me and Peter McGrail did four rounds each with him.”
Galahad is the reigning IBF World featherweight champion from the famous Ingle Gym. The 31-year-old Yorkshireman has more knockouts than prospect Nick Ball has had fights, but that didn’t faze the lesser experienced 24-year-old.
He confidently said, “It’s only different if you let it be different in your head, you just treat it like it’s another person in there with you, whether he’s the world champ or not.”
Nick’s 14th fight will just his second eight-rounder, which he hopes will lead on to championship challenges next, “I’m just taking each fight as it comes, but after this I want to be in title fights. The British is vacant and there’s loads of featherweights who could be up for fighting me for that. I know the English title is also vacant, but I think I’m past that now.”
Liverpool’s Ball will be travelling 100 miles south to Birmingham for fight night, but in his home city the same evening will be a big event between two fellow Merseysiders, Liam Smith and Anthony Fowler.
Ball commented on the local derby, “It’s a hard one to pick that is, Smith has got the better experience, but Fowler has got heavy hands and it could catch fire at any moment. I know people call Fowler a machine, but Liam has got an engine on him and done a lot more 12-round fights than Fowler.”
Night of Champions
The Birmingham-based boxing bonanza will be headlined by Brad ‘The Blade’ Foster (14-0-2, 5KOs) as he defends both his British and Commonwealth super-bantamweight crowns to Jason Cunningham (29-6, 6KOs), who puts up his European title in a winner takes all contest.
Also on the card, Botswana-born Ekow ‘The Engine’ Essuman (15-0, 6KOs), from Nottingham, defends his British and Commonwealth welterweight titles to unbeaten Kingswinford’s Danny Ball (10-0-1, 4KOs) in what will be a Midlands derby.
World title contender Callum ‘The One’ Johnson (19-1, 14KOs) returns in a defence of his WBO Global light-heavyweight belt.
Unbeaten in four bouts each, York’s George Davey (4-0) and Worcester’s Owen Cooper (4-0) return, and Devon-born debutant Macauley Owen makes his pro bow on the night.
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